December 26, 1943

December 26, 1943

Dear Mom & Dad:

Well Xmas day has been & gone & I can chalk up the third one spent away from home. I wonder how many more there will be? I can honestly see me spending the next one somewhere in the jungles but the one after that I’m sure will be at home. Maybe something unforeseen will happen sooner to bring the war to a finish – lets hope so.

Thursday night – the 23rd – I was in town on pass along with Lt. Eckroth. We had dates & went to the Division Officers dance at one of the night spots. The night was a real success – music was good (our own Div. band) – both girls were fun & good dancers & lots of our friends were there. In between dances an organist played all the old favorite Xmas carols. It was beautiful & made me a little homesick.

I came back to camp on the 24th & went on duty as the Officer of the Day on the 25th. Some of the boys got a little happied up on the wine we bought them out of the fund but none of them caused any trouble so it was an uneventful tour of duty. We have a bunch of fine men in this Bn. & very seldom have any trouble with them.

Our Christmas dinner here in the battery was great – turkey plus all the trimmings. We invited some of the neighboring farmers & their families to eat with us & they all said it was the best feast they’d had for a long time. We all, naturally, according to good old American custom, ate too much & had to spend the afternoon sleeping it off. To give you a rough idea of the menu our dessert consisted of strawberry short cake (with whipped cream), pumpkin pie, & ice cream.

I spose you all had your usual good time on Xmas eve. I guess it wouldn’t be the same tho with all the vacancies in the Johnsons & Alquists. I’m sure we’re all still there in spirit tho if not in body.

Today & tomorrow I’m a Battery Commander for the first time in my army career. The 3 other officers including Lt. Healy , the B.C., are all in town on pass which leaves the works completely in my hands. If everything goes smoothly I’ll be O.K. I just got thru conducting close order drill, & also censored a big pile of mail. It’s quite a job reading all those “snow jobs.”

Next Wed. Lt. Bolton will be back & then I’ll take off for town for 3 days. What a life! Won’t be long tho before we start intensive training again – then the fun will be over.

Your Xmas package came on the 22nd – the one with the towels & stationery. I’m sorry to report that I opened it up right away instead of waiting ‘till the 25th. I saw daddy’s initials on the “Do not open” sticker, but I figured he’s just a Sgt. & how does he get off giving orders to a Lt. – so I opened it. I sure do need both the towels & the writing paper so thanks. Yours was the only package that has come so far – Elaine’s must be traveling all over the Solomons.

Have received your letter of Dec. 7th which contained the article about Joe Schaper. Looks as if he’s really making a name for himself. His mother is quite the publicity agent – don’t you think!

Dad – I also got the midget Star Journal sent by you from Donaldsons. I really appreciated reading it – hope you’ll do that every once in a while. Healy got a bang out of it too. How are things going down at the American Linen? I hear you have to work in the laundry one night a week. That’s sorta rough but much better than having the place close up for lack of help. Of course you never did mind a little hard work anyway so maybe you enjoy that one night as a diversion.

Sure was happy to hear that Micky is picking up again. I had a Christmas card from her (the only one I got besides yours) Intend to write her when I get caught up – am in an awful hole with my correspondence.

The $50 money order I’m enclosing is sort of a delayed Christmas present to you both. Sorry I couldn’t sent it a little earlier – I racked my brain to think of something I could buy you here but as you can imagine there’s a poor selection. You can probably think of something you need for the house. Later on, when we can reveal our position I’ll send home some souvenirs.

I’m still feeling fine – just getting over a mild case of sunburn. One day last week we got together with some girls from a nearby small town & went to the beach for a picnic. One girl brought her record-player so we had music all day. We spent the whole day swimming, playing baseball, & lying in the sun. It proved a bit too much for these tender shoulder blades. The girl I went with is the champion tennis player & golfer in the vicinity. I’ve played tennis with her – she runs me ragged. Haven’t seen the golf game yet but expect to soon. Lots of nice golf courses in this country.

Well I ‘spect your getting tired of reading just about now so here’s where I’ll say so long for a while. Write soon.

Love, Dorance

P.S. Did you have a Christmas tree this year?